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July 2, 2015 | By Simon

Since being founded by three Dutch makers in 2011 after inventing the original Ultimaker 3D printer, Ultimaker has grown to become the leading European 3D printer manufacturer and has managed to pick up more than a few loyal fans along the way.  

Just recently, the young company’s 3D printer was awarded first place in a 3D printer shootout in the popular Make Magazine and was also awarded Best Consumer Product at the 3D Printshow Global Awards in 2014.  Needless to say, Ultimaker has managed to not only become one of the most successful open source companies in the 3D printing industry, but one of the most successful 3D printing companies, period.   

In an effort to maker their unique 3D printing experience even better for Ultimaker customers, the company has just announced a completely reengineered (and free) version of their Cura software that aims to make preparing 3D files for 3D printing easier and more intuitive than ever before.  In addition to the new features, the new Cura is built on the incredibly reliable and flexible Uranium framework.  The decision to use the new framework will allow for the Ultimaker software team to add new features on-the-fly as they become available in the future.

Along with an entirely overhauled user interface design, the updated Cura features a slew of new additions that are aimed at making the 3d printing experience easier for not just Ultimaker users, but anybody else in the 3D printing community, too.  

Among other features, the new offerings includes an easy-to-use time-quality slider which allows a user to determine the quality to speed ratio for a dedicated 3D print.  Additionally, an undo/redo button makes it easy to clear any mistakes made while making adjustments to a 3D model leading up to a 3D print.

“From the very beginning, Cura software and Ultimaker printers have had an inseparable bond,” says the company. “Each one enhances the other to create one of the best 3D printing experiences ever.”

Some long-time Ultimaker users may notice some features from the old Cura missing in the new Cura as the company makes the transition to the new software - such as some auto-assist printing wizards - however the company assures us that they will be up and running again as soon as they can optimize them for the new platform along with a host of other features.  

Among other features that the company is working on adding to Cura in the near future include:

• The ‘Configuration Wizard’ and ‘Bed Leveling Wizard’ for the Ultimaker Original and Ultimaker Original+.
• All At Once / One At A Time Printing.
• A dual extrusion feature with a completely new workflow.
• An improved way to incorporate ‘Lay Flat’, and ‘Split Object Into Parts’.
• Future plug-ins will include support for DAE and AMF files. And for directly loading a GCode file. There will also be plug-ins to support PNG, JPG and other image formats. Support for loading Minecraft levels will also be implemented as a plug-in.
• ‘X-Ray View’ will be added as a future plug-in.

“From the very beginning Ultimaker’s vision has been to make 3D printing accessible to all,” adds the company.  

“Such a commitment has seen them embraced both by professionals and novices alike. This has also helped them to become one of the most successful and reliable open source 3D printing companies in the world.”

The latest version of the company's Cura software is available to both Ultimaker users and non-Ultimaker users alike as a free download starting today. 

 

 

Posted in 3D Software

 

 

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Cloakfiend wrote at 8/19/2015 1:24:07 PM:

The legacy versions of cura are still available so non ultimaker users can still use them with no problems what so ever, i have an ultimaker and think the new cura is no good anyway so i dont see what wanyone is complaining about.

Tom McBaum wrote at 7/3/2015 12:31:20 AM:

No delta printer support in the new version? And no "Lay Flat" either. (It's "coming in a future release.")

Jon S wrote at 7/2/2015 5:45:33 PM:

I installed it (15.06.01) last night, but it only has Ultimaker machines available in the set up.

Lasse wrote at 7/2/2015 2:16:20 PM:

As far as I can see this release is useless to all non-Ultimaker users. You only have the posibility add Ultimaker printers.

Bri wrote at 7/2/2015 1:24:02 PM:

I checked this yesterday and the version is identical...

Absrnd wrote at 7/2/2015 8:27:12 AM:

Unfortunately, the list of features that is no longer in this "new release" is bigger than the new feature list. They wrote the program from the ground up, and release it without fully implementing all the features, and with the history of not caring about the users, it will take a long time before it is back the old way :( You also want to add to the article, that non Ultimaker users can't use Cura anymore !

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